


Uniform Parallels

by LacePendragon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Background Relationships, During Robyn's Party, F/F, Friendship, M/M, Missing Scene, Scene Rewrite, V7C6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21849301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LacePendragon/pseuds/LacePendragon
Summary: Just like in Mantle, life in Atlas has its restrictions and its fears. During Robyn Hill's celebration party, on the night of the election, Marrow finds that despite their different homes, and different stances, that he and Robyn have more in common than he thought, and he gets a chance to tell Robyn just why he's so gung-ho about rules that don't work.
Relationships: Marrow Amin & Robyn Hill, Marrow Amin/Clover Ebi, Robyn Hill/Fiona Thyme
Comments: 25
Kudos: 117





	Uniform Parallels

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to go up before Chapter 7 aired, but I got brain sick with the mental illness nonsense. So, here you go. A week late, but still here. This fic is largely gen and focuses on Marrow and Robyn's budding friendship, but the relationships are important enough to the scene, overall, to be included.
> 
> This fic also includes a lot of headcanons I have, about faunus/human relationships in Mantle and Atlas, though they are always shifting in detail, this is the general overview.
> 
> I also realized, while thinking about Springthyme (Robyn/Fiona) that there are a lot of good parallels between them and Wishbone (Clover/Marrow). So uh. Yeah. That's a thing now.
> 
> Enjoy!

Marrow huffed and leaned against the stage, flipping through his Scroll while various members of Mantle talked about all the ways Robyn had helped them. He kept his ears off most of it, because it probably wasn’t all legal and he wasn’t in the mood to arrest people. Let alone Robyn, on her election night.

Seriously, sometimes it felt like the Happy Huntresses were just begging to share all the illegal things they did, as if it would make them better than him, and not force his hand to arrest them. He didn’t _want_ to arrest them. They did good work. They were good people. But he had to follow the rules.

He wasn’t Harriet or Clover or even _Ruby._ He didn’t get to break the rules and still be where he was. That was just how it worked.

His Scroll buzzed, dragging him from mindlessly thumbing through old documents, and he opened his messages to see one from Clover. It read, ‘keep the peace and come home safe. Miss you!’ and there was a little video of Clover blowing him a kiss and winking underneath. Marrow smiled, not quite containing the little giggle that slipped out of him, and saved the video in his folder of Clover videos. He was up to thirty, since they started dating.

He thumbed through a few of them, his tail wagging fast and brushing against the stage from how he was leaning, before messaging Clover back.

‘Mostly it’s sappy,’ he said.

Clover’s reply appeared a moment later. ‘So, you fit right in then?’ There was a heart emoji at the end.

Marrow’s smile turned soft and he replied, ‘Yeah.’ He let out a quiet sigh.

“Aw, look at you,” cooed Robyn, walking over. “Someone’s having a good time.” She leaned next to him and Marrow wasn’t fast enough to close his messages with Clover, where his little video was playing on loop. He snapped his Scroll shut and jammed it in his pocket, face burning.

When he chanced a glance at Robyn, her expression had changed. She stared where his Scroll had been, her brow furrowed and her eyes soft at the edges. She pressed her lips together, but not tightly, and frowned.

“What?” he snapped. His tail hung down, not quite tucked between his legs, but close. How much had she seen? How much did she care about? She claimed to be for equality, but people chose stranger things to hate. And far less socially acceptable ones.

“I didn’t realize the Golden Boy had a partner,” she said. There was no judgement in her voice, as much as Marrow was listening for it. Just… teasing. The friendly kind that was in Jaune’s voice when he asked Marrow how he took his coffee, or in Blake’s, when she asked him about the dog hair on the back of a chair. People who _cared_ without judgement, without back-handed compliments, without feeling the need to push him into the dirt to prove themselves superior.

Even if he did try to build himself up with too many compliments and boasts, sometimes.

“Yeah, well,” Marrow shrugged, because he couldn’t think of what else to do, “not many people do.” He mumbled the last part, unable to force his voice louder for fear of people overhearing.

Robyn watched him, her gaze soft. “I understand.”

“Do you?” asked Marrow, his voice tight. He watched Robyn, and watched as she cast a glance over her shoulder, onto the stage, to where Fiona was bouncing up and down as she chatted with a few people. Marrow narrowed his eyes as he watched Robyn watch Fiona. She smiled, in that soft, secretive way that Marrow was far too familiar with.

_Oh._

Robyn looked back at him and raised an eyebrow. “What do you think?” she asked.

Marrow glanced away and folded his arms over his chest. “If you’re so keen on equality, why hide?” he asked, even though he had an idea.

“As much as the people who believe in me agree with many of my ideas, I fear that this is something that is a bit controversial, even for most of them,” said Robyn. “I fear I would lose voters, and my chance to join the Council.”

Marrow nodded and shifted to look at Robyn again. She reached up and tugged at her ponytail.

“What about you?” she asked. “You have the status required to keep yourself safe, if you were to be public.” She tilted her head. “So why aren’t you?”

“Safe from firing, maybe,” said Marrow. “General Ironwood knows, and he’s supportive of us.”

Robyn hummed. “That… surprises me.”

Marrow raised an eyebrow at her. “He’s the one who started the vote to decriminalize faunus/human relationships, ten years ago. Without him, we’d both be breaking the law by falling in love.”

“Still illegal to get married,” said Robyn.

“Something you and the General both dislike,” said Marrow. Before Robyn could say anything else, he continued. “And it was my idea. Clover’s got too much at stake to be seen with someone like me.” He shook his head. “Believe me, we’ve argued about it.” His tail curled between his legs, brushing one of his thighs.

Robyn nodded. “So have Fiona and I,” she said. She cast a glance at a drone, floating out of earshot, near the back of the crowd. It turned its attention to them, before drifting off in another direction. “I wanted to be public, initially. She knows it will jeopardize our chances at reforming and fixing Mantle. Those arguments I gave you? All hers.” Robyn sighed. “Politics.”

Marrow snorted. “Tell me about it.” Then, because he couldn’t let it go, “Golden Boy? Really? Couldn’t think of anything else?”

Robyn cocked an eyebrow at him. “Come on, Wags, you know any better nicknames for him?”

“None that I’d tell you,” said Marrow, before he could stop himself.

Robyn wrinkled her nose. “Part of me is horrified at the idea, the rest of me really, really wants to know what sort of names you’d give him in bed.” She shook her head, her tone dry. “Damn my insatiable curiosity.”

Marrow grinned. “Not as bad as the ones he’s given me.”

Robyn smirked. “Really? Here I thought it was a praise kink, not a dirty talk kink.”

Marrow flushed. “Wait. How do you…?”

“Come on, Wags.” She folded her arms and leaned against the stage. “You telegraph. Hard. The tail is doing you no favours.”

Marrow pouted. His tail, the traitor, beat lightly against one of his legs. His pleasure in the gentle ribbing obvious, despite his embarrassment.

“Although,” said Robyn, tilting her head. She was kind enough not to mention his wagging tail. “You’re not nearly as bad as you used to be. I take it, it’s being taken care of?” She raised an eyebrow, still smirking.

Marrow bit the inside of his cheek. “Shut up,” he mumbled. His tail beat harder as he thought of Clover and going back to Clover’s apartment, tonight.

Robyn shook her head. “You’re cute,” she said. Then, shrugging, “For a boy, at least.”

“Thanks,” said Marrow, drily. “You’re decent for a woman. I think.” They both laughed, low and chuckling.

“You think,” echoed Robyn.

Marrow shrugged. “You’ve seen my taste in men.”

Robyn hummed. “Now that, I don’t understand.”

Marrow cast a glance at Fiona. “That’s fine, I don’t understand _her_ taste, either. Yours?” He grinned at Robyn. “Well, we faunus are pretty attractive.”

Robyn opened her mouth, then closed it, then said, “I don’t know how to respond to that in an appropriate way.”

Marrow grinned. “Probably for the best.”

The two were silent for a time, listening to Fiona talk to Robyn’s followers. Marrow stared at the floor, his gaze unfocused and his mind racing. There was a lot he wanted to say to Robyn, about how to hide what she was doing, about the blind spots in Mantle that would allow her to help others. Little things that Marrow knew from his time as a citizen, rather than a soldier. But he knew she’d take it as a trap. Even if he’d purposely never told the Ace-Ops, or the military, or anyone who could shut it down, the locations of those dark spots.

Marrow looked back at Robyn and took a breath. There was at least something he could tell her that she _would_ believe.

“I really do think you’ll be a great councilwoman, you know,” said Marrow. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, security or not.”

She stared at him, mouth falling open in surprise.

He shrugged. “You’re not just the best option we have, you’re a plain _good_ option. You believe in equality, in justice, and you’ll fight for it.” He reached up and fiddled with a piece of his hair, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “General Ironwood has brought up faunus/human marriage rights before, but he’s never had a third vote. You’d _be_ that third vote.” Marrow kicked a foot against the floor. “Presuming you’d agree with him.”

“Of course, I would,” said Robyn. She hesitated, lips pressed together, then reached out and rested a hand on Marrow’s shoulder. “Thank you. I didn’t realize any of you believed in me.”

Marrow offered her a little smile, turning to face her properly. “I’ve always believed in you, Robyn. I just don’t want to break the rules to believe in you.” He looked away, grimacing. “I’m not you. If I break the law, I’ll lose everything.”

“Oh,” said Robyn. She wasn’t looking at him, anymore. “I didn’t realize.”

“And you know, I worry about her – Fiona.” Marrow met Robyn’s gaze as both of their heads came up, once more. “The rest of you are human. The law will be lenient on you, if we catch you.” Robyn furrowed her brow. “But, Fiona? With her semblance?” He shook his head. “She’ll go away for a long time. And I don’t want to see that. You’re doing good work.” He bowed his head. “Please don’t make us stop you.”

Robyn was silent. For a minute, Marrow wondered if he’d said something stupid, if he’d fucked up, or if Robyn was going to take it wrong or try and use it against him.

“You’re a lot smarter than people give you credit for, Wags,” said Robyn, her voice soft. “Thanks, for sharing all that with me.”

Marrow shrugged. He stepped back from Robyn and folded his arms across his chest. A drone drifted close to them and he caught Robyn scowling at it, out of the corner of her eye. She shifted, grabbing a loose brick near the stage.

He stopped her with one lifted hand and a shake of his head. With his other hand he tapped the earpiece in his right ear.

“Penny? Can you disperse the drones and send them to the streets? I think we have it handled in here,” he said.

_“Okie dokie!”_ came Penny’s response. The drones turned and zipped off, vanishing out of the open windows.

“Thanks, Penny,” said Marrow. He turned his attention back to Robyn, who watched him with a furrowed brow and parted lips.

“I didn’t know she could do that,” said Robyn, her voice low.

Marrow nodded. “Most people don’t. Penny doesn’t exactly talk to machines around the rest of us.” He folded his arms against his chest, again. He always defaulted to that gesture around Robyn and like, everyone else. “She doesn’t like when people compare her to the drones.” He dropped his gaze to the floor, grinding his teeth. “She’s a person,” he whispered. “No matter what anyone else says.”

He jolted at a hand on his shoulder. Robyn was there, smiling at him. “Thank you, for asking her to do that. I appreciate the trust.” She paused, tilting her head a bit. “And you’re right. She’s a good kid. I should give her more credit than I do.”

Marrow cast a glance at the live results for the election, projected on the wall behind the stage. He frowned. Jacques stood at 42%. Robyn stood at 58%. It was getting closer by the minute.

“When this is over,” said Robyn, her voice low. “You and Clover should come over to my place. We can do an indoor double date, sorta thing. I’ll order take out.”

Marrow blinked, startled. Of all the things she could have said, he hadn’t expected that. “A double date?” he echoed.

“Yeah,” said Robyn, nodding. “Get to know you and the Golden Boy beyond the uniforms.” She raised an eyebrow. “You _do_ own other clothes, right?”

He flushed. “Of course I own other clothes.”

She grinned, crooked and cheeky. “Precisely.” She shrugged. “You get to know us, we get to know you. Something peaceful, you know?”

“A way to celebrate your win, too,” said Marrow.

“Presuming I win,” said Robyn.

Marrow cast a glance. Jacques at 44%. Robyn at 56%. “Presuming you win,” he agreed. “But I hope you do.”

“Me too,” said Robyn. She sighed, and repeated, lower, “Me too.”

Fiona skipped over to them and crouched down between them, still on the stage. “They want you to give a speech,” she said, her hand over the microphone.

Robyn blinked. “I can do that. Thank you, hun.” Fiona startled, looking at Marrow with wide eyes. He winked. She smiled.

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” she replied, beaming. _Sweetie._ Oh, now that was too cute. Based on the rosiness in Robyn’s cheeks, she agreed.

Robyn climbed up onto the stage, but before she stood, she looked at Marrow.

“Double date. Next Friday night. You game?” she asked.

Marrow grinned. “I’m game. I’ll tell Clover.”

She nodded and took the microphone from Fiona.

“Good luck,” said Marrow, lifting a hand in support. She smiled at him, turned, and straightened out, walking across the stage to give her speech. Fiona followed after, but not before winking at Marrow and mouthing ‘nice’. He presumed about Clover. He grinned.

As Robyn started her speech in front of the live results, Marrow settled against the stage and let himself relax. In a few minutes, for better or worse, it’d all be over. Marrow pulled out his Scroll to text Clover. At least it was a quiet night.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are loved and appreciated. I will do my best to respond to all of them. Thank you so much for reading!


End file.
